Valve contbol apparatus



March 27, 1928.

E. T. VINCENT VALVE CONTROL APPARATUS Filed May 15. 1926 I L J\IIIIIIIIII Jfnqentor WAW attorney Patented Mar. 27, 1928.

UNITED .STATES EUGENE 'r. VINCENT, or BOSTON, ivmssaerrusnrrs.

VALVE CONTROL APPARATUS.

Application filed May 15, 1926. Serial No. 109,451.,

My present invention relates to an improved control apparatus for gas orother fluid.

In thermostatically controlled heating apparatuswhere the heatingelement is gas or other heating fluid, a source of danger is the pilotburner ordinarily associated with the main burner. As ordinarilyemployed, the fuel at the pilot burner is ignited and afterwards thefuel at the main burner is ignited. Then the main and pilot burners areoperating at one and the same time, the main burner being controlled byavalve, which, in turn, is controlled by athermostatic arrangementlocated in a room or building it is desired to heat. It may sometimeshappen that if the main burner is adjusted so that very little fuel isbeing consumed thereat, that the main burner will be extinguished andalso the pilot light will be extinguished. Under such circumstances,while the flow of fuel through the mainhurner is arrested at the controlvalve beyond, the pilot burner will have 'fuel'fed continuously thereto,with the result that a large amount of nnconsumed fuel collects in thefire or ignition chamber of the burner. Afterwards, should itbeattempted to light the pilot burner, an explosion will result 30 andpossibly damage occur. Various attemptshave, been made to deviseapparatus for preventing such accidents and as far as I am aware, noneof these attempts have been successful. 7 v i In my present invention, Ihave devise an improved control apparatus for controlling the mainsupply fuel valve of an apparatus of the kind referred to and have assoeiated with such apparatus a thermostatic control of tlie pilot light,such control consisting essentially in means for automatically shuttingoff the flow of fuel to the pilot burner, should, for any reason, thepilot light be extinguished for a predetermined length of time.

The object ofmy invention, therefore, is an improved valve controlapparatus for heating plants and the like. v In the accompanyingdrawings illustratbig the preferred embodiment of my invention,

Fig. 1 is a side elevationlsliown attached we heating plant and with thecover plate removed; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional elevation of Fig.1;"I

' sulating matcri al.

Fig. 3 isavertical end elevation on the line 83 of Fig. 2, and i Fig. 4is a sectional plan view on the line 1- 1 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates a rectangular box structureprovided. on its open upper end with a cover plate 11 secured thereto byscrews 12 and on its front face with a coverplate 13, secured thereto byscrews 14.. $crcwed into a boss 15 formed on one side of the rectangularbox 10, is a threaded end of a tube 16 of any convenient length anddiameter. This tube 16 has secured therein at its outer end in anyconvenient manner a plug 17 the inner end of this plug being slotted toreceive and hold securely one end of a bi-metallic thermostatic element18, such thermostatic element extending forwardly through the tube 16and into the interior of the rectangular box 10. The side of the box 10opposite the boss 15 is cut away, as indicated at 19, and securedto theouter face of the box 10 and covering the opening 19 is a plate 20 of inSecured to said plate 20 are pairs of terminals 21 and 22 respectivelyand secured to said terminals on the exterior face of the insulatingplate 20 are pairs of conductors 23 and 24 respectively. The inner endsof the pairs of terminals 21 extend inward beyond the face of theinsulating plate 20 and are adapted to be engaged by contact plates 25and 26 respectively, that is, the pair of contacts 21 are adaptedto beengaged by the contact plate 25, while the pair of contacts 22 areadapted V to be engaged by the contact plate 26. The

contact plates 25 and 26 are mounted on a member 27 ofinsulatingmaterial that is pivotally mountedon a horizontal shaft 28 carried byamemliier 29 secured to and extending inwardly from the inner face ofthe insulating plate 20 as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The upper end of themember 27 is slotted to receive the lower end of a spring 30 that issecured to the innerrectangular box 10, thisspring normally tending tohold the contact plate 26 in engagement with the pair of contacts 22.The rear end or edge of the member 27 is cut away, as indicated at 31,to receive the forward end of the thermostatic element 18, thethermostatic element in its oscillating movement engaging with one sideor the other of such cutaway portion. The pair of conductors 23 formpart of a circuit leading to a solenoid conrent thereto in such a manneras to cause a closing of the main supply valve; As the plate 26 is'normally'in engagement with the pair of conductors 22,- it will beobvious that such main control valveis normally closed. As the detailsof the construction and arrangement of the solenoid and main supplyvalve form no part of my present invention,

they have not been illustrated and willanot be further described.

The lower end of the rectangular box 10; is open and secured thereto: byscrews-32 is a member 33,. into one end of which is: screwed one end ofabypasspipe 34 leading. from themai-nsource ot fuel supply. The pipe 34connects with a: passage 35 formed inthe' member 33, this passageextending upwardly and terminating in a: valve seat 36, on the uppersurface of the member 33. On the end of the member 33 remote from thepipe 34 is a recess 37, which communicates by means of a passage 38 withthe upper surface of. the member 33 and this passage 37 has screwed intoits open end. one end of a pipe 39. On the outer end ot the pipe 39 isscrewed a burner 40, which is provided with an. orifice through whichwill pass fluid which, when ignited, as indicated at 4-1, bears againstthe plug 17 carrying the thermostatic element 18.. In. the lower openend of the rectangular box 10 is formed a bar 42,: pertorated' centrallyto receive as a sliding fit a cylindrical member 43, which engages witha diaphragm valve 44 secured between the upper face of the. member 33and the lower face of the rectangular box 10.

The diaphragm valve 44 is such that the fuel, under pressure, passingthrough the pipe 34 and: through the passage 35 will force the diaphragmvalve 44 off the seat 36 and will: allow such: fuel to: pass through theperforation: into the recess 37, through. the pipe 39, and through theburner 40'. Adjustably mounted: in the free end of the thermostaticelement 18- is a screw 45, which engages with the upper end? of thecylindrical member 43- and when the outer end of the thermostaticelement 18' moves downward. asvi'ewe'd Figs. land 2', will? cause thecylindrical. member toengage with the diaphragm valve 44 and force thesame against the valve seat 36, thereby shutting 0a the flow of fuel.

The device. as above described is adapted to: be secured in the walls46: of a heater. Associatedwithi the frame 46 is a main burner 47 andthe pilot burner 40. is pro.-

vided'with orifices through which the fuel will pass and, when ignited,will impinge on the burner 47 ,v as indicatedby thereference terminals21 and 22 and the connecting ends of the conductors 23 and. 24, andsecured to the rectangular box 10. by screws 51- is acover box orplate52; The operation of my improved device is as foll-ows,'i1t beingassumed that the device hasbeen constructed and arranged as abovedescribed and that such device. has been arranged on the frame work 46of a heating apparatus. Thedevice isassumed to be coldand,..thcretore,itwi-ll be assumed that the free end of. the thermostatic element 18 isin its lowermost. ition with the lower end of the member engag ing withand forcing the cylindrical mem-1 ber 43intor engagement with. thevalveseat 36,. and therefore shutting off the flow of iiuel through the pipe341. Also, the ate 26 being in engagement with the pair 0 contacts- 22,the solenoid referreduto above will be assumed. to have been operatingin :such.

a manner as to'close the main supply valve.

The operator, therefore, by manipulating the hand-1e 49- will lift, bymeans of the member 50,-the free end of the. thermostatic element 18upwardly and allow theiuelto pass from: the pipe34 through the passages35- and38 to and. through the pipe 39' and through the pilot-burner 40.He will then cause ignition of the fuel at the pilot burner 40 in theusual manner and the flaming.

41am} 47 will result. Within a comparatively short time, the heat fromthe jet 41 on theplug 17 will have afiectedthethermm static element 18sufi'rciently to hold its free. end and the element 45 carried therebyaway from the cylindrical element 43 and, there- Y forethe flow of fuelfrom the pipe 34 not be interrupted and. the pilot will: remain lit.When the plug 17 becomes sufliciently heated, it will. affect thethermostatic element in a manner to bring the free end of thethermostatic element 18in engagement with the upper portion of thecut-out 3.1 in the element 27 and such element-27 will be rotatedon theshaft 28, so as. to bring the plate 25 into engagement with the pair ofcontacts 21 andagainst tension of the spring 30.- The closing ot thecircuit betweenathe pair of. contacts 21 will cause the above referredto solenoid to operate and openthe mainsupply valve and, therefore,fuel. w ll be. fed to the main burner 47 where itwrll be ignited b theflaming jet 47*. This condition of afliiirs will continue until the roomthermostatic device above referred to is affected by the heat in theroom to regulate the amount of fuel flowing from the source of fuelsupply to the main burner 47. If, through an accident or for any otherreason, the flow of fuel is temporarily shut off by the thermostaticelement located in the room, and above referred to, there will be nofuel flowing through the main burner 47. If, while the flow of fuelthrough the burner 47 is thus temporarily shut off, and for any reasonthe pilot burners 41 and 47, are extinguished, the plug 17 andassociated thermostatic element 18 will be rapidly cooled and the freeend of the thermostatic element 18 will move the member 45 intoengagement with the cylindrical member 43 and will force the same andthe diaphragm valve 44 into engagement with the valve 36 and therebyshut off the flow of fuel to the pilot burner 40. In cooling, the freeend of the thermostatic element 18 will also engage with the lowerportion of the cut-out 31 and will rotate the member 27 on the shaft 28,opening the valve opening control circuit 23 at the contact points 21and will close the valve closing circuit at the contact points 22.Therefore both the main supply valve and the pilot supply valve will beclosed and fuel will be prevented from passing through either the pilotburner or the main burner 47 into the firing box. Under thesecircumstances, it will be necessary in order to restart the apparatus,to perform the sequence of operations described above.

While I have necessarily described the preferred embodiment of myinvention somewhat in detail, it is to be understood that I may vary thesize, shape, and arrangement of parts within wide limits withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

In an apparatus of the kind described, the combination of a main burner,a pilot burner, a source of fuel supply for said burners, a thermostaticarrangement actuated by the influence of heat from the pilot burner andoperating to shut off the flow of fuel to the pilot burner upon theextinguishment of the pilot light for a predetermined length of time andcontrol means for a main fuel supply operable simultaneously with theoperation of the pilot control means.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

EUGENE T. VINCENT.

